Don't overlook the balljoint itself as the source of the squeak, especially
if the boot is, or has been, torn/cracked. I've seen quite a few balljoints
squeak/creak in my 20 years of Vw repair. The best way to rid the squeak for
good, is to replace the balljoint AND the bushings at the same time (unless
of course the bushings were done recently and correctly). Still less than
the junkyard arm at $75 or so.

Karl von M�llendorf
WestyVentures
1987 Syncro Westfalia 1.9 TD 'Otto'
1988 Audi 80 Quattro 'Car'

----- Original Message -----

> Ken,
>
> Your upper control arm bushings are causing the squeak, without a
> doubt.  They look fine, work fine, and are fine, except for the squeak.
> What happens is that the bond between the rubber bushing and its inner
> and outer metal sleeves breaks over time and that is the squeak you
> hear, rubber rubbing on metal.  The metal outer and inner sleeves are
> held in place by a spot weld the UC arm and the through bolt
> respectively, and the rubber is supposed to flex and absorb shock and
> noise.  It still does this task, but noisily as the bond breaks and
> slippage also occurs.
>
> Replace your bushings and the squeak will be gone!  (Do a front end
> alignment afterward too.)
>
> Ken Hunter wrote:
> >
> > I have the same problem and my bushings check out OK per Bentley. My
upper
> > boots were torn  but the joints were good so I found some boots that
would
> > fit.. they failed within 2 months. A couple of months ago there was a
thread
> > on this topic.
> > For a Synchro there is a clearance shown in Bentley determined by the
> > thickness of the eccentric adjuster washers. I was told that these
different
> > thickness washers applied to the non-Synchro's also (although not shown
to be
> > so in Bentley). When I had the upper arms off I greased everything and
> > torqued them back to 50ftlbs.with the car on the ground. Still squeaked,
> > still looking for a solution.